Since the mid-20thcentury, the marine areas of the Pacific Ocean have been the subject of much exploration due to the wealth of resources found in the deep sea. Marie-Ève Perrin, a PhD student at Paul Valéry University in Montpellier, analyses how changing contexts – marked by scientific, economic, geopolitical and environmental influences – have shaped questions and research in marine geosciences in New Caledonia, French Polynesia and Wallis and Futuna since the 1960s, and consequently influenced the very fabric of science.
by Carole Saout-Grit
Cover photo : pexels / François Baledent
‘We have lost almost everything in marine geosciences: around 1,000 marine samples from 10 campaigns since 2012.’ These words from the head of New Caledonia’s geology department sum up the losses caused by the fire at the Nouméa rock collection during the riots of May 2024. This event illustrates how the post-colonial socio-political context can affect marine geoscience research.
Scientists, politicians, associations and representatives of civil society are gathered for the Regional Platform on the Deep Sea, organised by the IRD in Tahiti (French Polynesia). Source: University of French Polynesia (UPF)
The Pacific Ocean is a key frontier for resource appropriation in the 21st century. Since the mid-20th century, it has been the subject of a race for space and natural resources, particularly geological resources. New Caledonia, French Polynesia and Wallis and Futuna, in particular, have attracted numerous scientific missions to their seabeds thanks to their exceptional geodiversity.
These explorations not only satisfy scientific curiosity but also serve interests at the crossroads of various issues. They are often the product of one or more motivating factors: scientific, institutional, environmental, political and geopolitical.
A little bit of the seabed of Wallis and Futuna on the lawn of Ifremer. What are the stories behind this geographical intertwining?
Strong interdisciplinarity between social sciences and geosciences
Through what mechanisms do changing motivational contexts encourage the emergence of research questions related to deep-sea geosciences in New Caledonia and French Polynesia?
How do these mechanisms shed light on power relations between the French State and its overseas territories, and at the local level between scientists, associations, professionals and politicians? Do they influence the way scientists formulate their research questions and undertake to answer them: the choice of methods, techniques, protocols, or even interpretative frameworks?
How is the duality between applied science and fundamental or ‘pure’ science produced, and what are its effects on research?
These are some of the questions being addressed by Marie-Ève Perrin, a doctoral student at the SENS and GEO-OCEAN laboratories at Paul Valéry University in Montpellier.
She intends to draw on all her skills as a geologist, the knowledge she acquired in the Master’s programme in Environmental Studies (EHESS) and her experience in ethnographic research on the links between mining, access to drinking water and populations to answer these questions.
Over the next three years, her thesis, which is firmly rooted in a strong interdisciplinary approach combining social sciences and Earth sciences, will focus on marine geoscience research conducted in the deep waters of three French territories in the Pacific: New Caledonia, French Polynesia and Wallis and Futuna.
Methodology
After analysing the historical context, Marie-Ève will focus on contemporary transformations in the motivations behind ‘science in the making’ in the field of marine geosciences in these marine areas (EHESS) of the Pacific. She will attempt to identify the components of these contexts (scientific, geopolitical, economic, environmental) at different scales (territorial, national, international) and to prioritise them in order to structure her work.
To do this, she will draw on all the traditional tools of anthropology. Semi-structured interviews will be conducted with marine geoscientists, environmental associations, government bodies, research institutes and the general public. Data collected from archives, scientific reports and parliamentary debate transcripts will be used to analyse the history of science since the 1960s.
Marie-Ève Perrin in conversation with a marine geoscience researcher
Finally, if the opportunity arises, participatory observation in scientific laboratories or during a sea campaign would provide a better understanding of the mechanisms that bring together the interests linked to each context at a given moment and ultimately lead to the production of data on the seabed. The study will also examine the work of the French Oceanographic Fleet (FOF), which mobilises resources at sea for deep-sea research and is unique in that it is multifunctional and not exclusively dedicated to research.
Better understanding for better protection
This thesis at Paul Valéry University in Montpellier, conducted within the SENS (Savoirs Environnements Sociétés, IRD-CIRAD-UPVM) and GEO-OCEAN laboratories, is part of the objectives of the Ocean & Climate Priority Research Programme (PPR). The work is co-supervised by Pierre-Yves Le Meur, anthropologist at IRD (SENS) and specialist in mining issues in the Pacific, and Julien Collot, geologist specialising in marine geosciences and lecturer-researcher at UBO (GEO-OCEAN).
The results of this work will help shed light on the challenges of knowledge and governance of the deep sea, by examining the role of multiple social influences on the construction of science in marine areas that are still poorly understood and already highly coveted for their often unique natural resources.
Three Questions to Marie-Ève Perrin
Why did you want to do a phD in marine science?
Because it was a logical step in my career path and because I have salt water in my veins! I did a research master’s degree during which I studied the links between mining, access to drinking water and the Kanak populations. I chose to approach the subject from a non-human perspective, in this case, a drop of water. I followed it from the top of the mining plateau downstream, as it crossed or failed to cross tribal lands and reached the river mouths. The drop of water clearly did not stop at the river mouths. In line with my previous work, which was entirely morphological in nature, I became interested in the ocean, and in particular the seabed. What sealed my choice was also the importance of the ocean to me and to my home in New Caledonia.
What made you want to apply for this thesis topic? What were your motivations?
What motivated me to apply for this thesis topic was first and foremost the interdisciplinary approach: geology and social sciences, which brought me back to my first love of geosciences (I was a geological technician in the mining industry for the first eight years of my working life), allowed me to re-examine the geology of New Caledonia from a social sciences and humanities perspective, and invited me to question research in this discipline in light of the contexts that motivate it.
The thesis also focuses on French Polynesia, and I found the comparative approach with this other country very interesting for several reasons: it is also a French territory with a high degree of autonomy, it has a unique mode of governance of the EEZ through the creation of a so-called managed marine area, which I could compare with the management of our MPA (marine protected area), and the links between these two peoples and the sea have, in my opinion, a particular impact on research.
How do you see your future after your thesis?
After my thesis, I have several options in mind: teaching while continuing my research in marine science in France or elsewhere, doing postdoctoral work in Hawaii, or helping to expand the social sciences and humanities programme at the University of New Caledonia.
Reference : « History and sociology of marine geosciences in the waters of New Caledonia, French Polynesia and Wallis and Futuna. The influence of contexts on the making of science », Marie-Ève Perrin, phD 2024-2027
Contact : marie-eve.perrin@ird.fr